Slam dunk : Hanamichi's rebirth
by MK loves NaruSaku
Summary: Hanamichi's encounter with a former player will forever change Shohoku's dynamic. Read on as Hanamichi accept his new role as a Center and try and fill the void left by Akagi. Will Shohoku continue on and fulfill Akagi's dream of conquering the nation ?
1. Chapter 1

**Slam ****Dunk : Sakuragi's Rebirth**

It was 6 AM in the morning. The sun was rising lazily, casting warmth upon the kanagawa Prefecture. One man was sitting in the nearby basketball court holding the orange ball between the palms of his hands.

He was staring at the ball in deep thought. This man was Hanamichi Sakuragi, The power forward for the rising high school basketball team, Shohoku High. He was the self-proclaimed Tensai of the team. He was gifted and incredibly athletic. He was 189 cm tall and had a well built body due to his constant fights in his past. He had an incredible knack for the game, picking up things far quicker than any other player. The most prominent feature was his fiery red hair. But he was overconfident and arrogant. He always acted like an idiot on the court and during practice.

Hanamichi had just been released from rehabilitation. He was in rehab for a few weeks following his back injury in the infamous Sannoh game, in which a no name high school team made of trouble makers pushed the undisputed kings of Japanese high school basketball and finally beat them in a heart clenching moment.

Hanamichi was not allowed to play basketball until he was fully recovered. Though he resented not being able to play basketball, he was happy about the attention he received from the kind and motherly Doctor who presided over his sessions.

He was knocked out of his reverie by the ever so familiar sound of basketball being dribbled. Sighing once more, He took a look at the court beside which he was contemplating on what to do. He saw man in his mid 30's. The man was bouncing the basketball with his right hand while giving Hanamichi a questioning look. The man was pretty tall. He even towered over Hanamichi by a good margin. Hanamichi estimated him to be around 199 cm. The man had black hair which he kept in a buzz cut. He had brown eyes which showed a ton of experience. He was well built for a man of his age.

The man who was staring at Hanamichi decided to break the silence. He cleared his throat and spoke,

"What are you doing son? I was watching you for quite a while, but you were just sitting there and staring at the ball."

Hanamichi was about to retort in his usual manner but thought about all the time he had acted arrogant which hadn't ended well. He shut his mouth before he said something stupid and put on his happy go lucky face.

"It's nothing, Ojii-san. This tensai…." He thumped his chest to emphasize the point, "was just wondering how to get my team into the nationals this year."

The man was surprised by Hanamichi's sudden change in demeanor, but he kept a straight face and looked at Hanamichi.

"Genius..?" he questioned.

Hanamichi immediately went through his routine of exaggerated details and told the man how he was the rebound king of Kanagawa and how he could have been the rebound king at the nationals, if he hadn't been injured.

The man had a sudden look of realization on his face. He pointed at Hanamichi and Said..

"Oh, you're from Shohoku, The team that beat Sannoh in the nationals."

Hanamichi looked proud of the fact but suddenly remembered the embarrassing defeat at the hands of Aiwa gakuen.

"It's true we beat Sannoh but people think it was luck as we just won by a single point. That thought was further cemented when we were humiliated by Aiwa Gakuen."

The old man just kept listening to Hanamichi. He had seen the young man in front of him play. He had seen those crucial offensive rebounds and the blocks that Hanamichi had gotten throughout the game. It was a shame to see him get injured. The man wanted to see this unpredictable kid and his team further in the tournament.

"So what's been bothering you..?", the old man questioned Hanamichi.

"It's just that, our Captain Gori…. I mean Takenori Akagi, graduated this year and though he was giant gorilla, he taught me everything about basketball. He's gone and I don't know how we will manage without him under the basket."

Suddenly Hanamichi realized that he was talking to a totally unknown person.

"Hey, Who are you ? Are you spying on this genius for Ryonan? Maybe that Old man from Kainan.. ?"

The man burst out laughing on hearing Hanamichi's question. He placated Hanamichi by telling him that he wasn't involved with any of the high schools. Hanamichi still had a look in his eye warning the man.

"What's your name kid ?"

The question took Hanamichi by surprise but he recovered quickly.

"I'm Hanamichi Sakuragi of Shohoku High basketball team."

"Hanamichi….." The man recited the name before introducing himself.

"I'm Kazuhiko Shun."

"So tell me Hanamichi, Why are you worried about Akagi-kun's absence ?"

Hanamichi didn't have to think to answer that.

"Gori….. He was the driving force of Shohoku, The king of the underbasket. Moreover he was the pillar of Shohoku. Not that I doubt Ryo-chin's ability as the new captain but he doesn't have the fire equivalent to that of Akagi."

Hanamichi suddenly realized that Kazuhiko wouldn't have known all his team mates. He apologized for rambling on, but Kazuhiko stopped him by raising his hand and waving off Hanamichi's apology.

"I'm Familiar with Shohoku's basketball team. I'm a former player myself, so I tend keep eyes on the game to see if anyone good pops up. Last year had so many good players in the nationals. It was a shame that you couldn't go further."

Discovering their common ground of Basketball made their interaction easier. Hanamichi reflected on his thoughts of filling Akagi's shoes since he was the only player with the length to play the center position. Kazuhiko was beginning to understand Hanamichi's dilemma.

"You're worried if you can match Akagi-kun, Aren't you ?"

Hanamichi knew Kazuhiko had hit the nail on the head. From Kazuhiko's smile, he knew his face must have shown it.

"You really shouldn't think thoughts like this. Akagi-kun was an amazing player, no doubt in my mind. But you shouldn't beat yourself up on things that can or cannot happen. Just remember what happened in the Sannoh game. Akagi-kun was so rattled by Masashi's skills that it hurt his game and nearly brought Shohoku to the ground."

Hanamichi listened carefully. The way Kazuhiko was talking showed that he was a veteran in the sport Hanamichi loved so much.

"You should worry about improving your game rather than worry if you will be able to match someone who played totally different. Akagi-kun worked hard to reach the level he played at and you should do the same. Right now, you should focus on your basics. You can never be too good at the fundamentals."

Kazuhiko got up, dusting his pants and prepared to leave. Hanamichi was sitting in the same place with a thoughtful look on his face. Just as he turned the corner of the entrance leading to the court, kazuhiko looked over his shoulders,

"Although if you wanna get better, I could give you a few tips. I'll be here every morning in case you decide to become better than the Hanamichi Sakuragi of the sannoh game."

With those parting words, Kazuhiko left the court. Hanamichi knew that he had to get better if wished to beat Rukawa. He knew that Rukawa was better than him and he had to accept the fact after Rukawa thrashed him in their one-on-one. He then remembered Sendoh, Eiji and finally another Rookie just like himself, Hiroshi Morishige.

He knew that he had to get infinitely better if he wanted to beat all the people on his list. This day was the day that Hanamichi Sakuragi, "Tensai Basketto-man" will be reborn.


	2. The Return

**Thank you for the reviews and I seriously hope to make this into a good story that picks up where the manga ended and gives readers a good conclusion. Updates maybe erratic as I am in my 3****rd**** year of college, so please bear with me.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own slamdunk or any of the characters in it. Though I believe, Kazuhiko Shun is my OC.**

After his meeting with the mysterious person who called himself Kazuhiko, Hanamichi headed to school, after a long time off to heal his back. The staff and the administration had excused him after they learned of his injuries. Today was the first day that he would get to play Basketball after a long time.

He walked through the familiar gates of his high school and headed straight to his class. On his way, He met a familiar sight; Matsui and Fujii were heading right towards him. He smiled and waved at them. He had grown to like them after witnessing the two cheer Shohoku in every one of their games. They were a part of the Shohoku high basketball family. The duo turned around to see the tall redhead heading towards them and their mouth fell agape. They had not seen or heard from the redhead ever since he went to rehab. Their only source of information was Haruko who gave them updates on Hanamichi that she got through the letters he wrote back. Therefore, to see the outspoken redhead in front of them was a huge shock.

Fujii was the first one to break out of her stunned state, "Sakuragi-kun, Is that really you? "She asked enthusiastically. She kicked herself for asking such a stupid question. The question knocked Matsuii out of her funk as well. Both of them looked eagerly at the redhead who smiled at their enthusiasm. His face broke into a child like grin and he started scratching the back of his Buzz cut head, "Of course. This tensai is back to save the basketball team, Nyahahahaha."

Even though both of them were initially scared of Hanamichi, They learned from watching Hanamichi interacting with the Gundam that he had more to him than he showed. Now looking at him acting like a child at the mention of basketball confirmed their thoughts. However, before they could ask him anything else, the school bell rang, prompting Hanamichi to fall out of his "tensai laugh".

He straightened out and faced the duo, "Well, we better get going. If not, we're going to be late Matsui-san, Fujii-san."

The two girls nodded at the redhead and they headed for their class. But before the girls were out of earshot, Hanamichi asked them to keep his return a secret. He told them that he wanted to surprise everyone with his return. The girls nodded and bid farewell to the energetic redhead before turning the corner and heading to their class.

The day went by as smoothly as it could have for the redhead. He was surprised to be given a hero's welcome when everybody managed to knock themselves out of their stupor after seeing the redhead. Youhei and the rest of his Gundam were the happiest of the bunch, grateful to have their leader back.

He slept through most of the classes. Unfortunately, Mr. Kobayashi had the honor of handling mathematics for Hanamichi. The poor teacher broke his chalk pieces over 4 times, once for every time he heard Hanamichi snore.

After making it through the day, Hanamichi was finally ready to head out to practice. He slid his bag over his head and hung the bag around his shoulders. He turned to see Takamiya staring outside looking for pretty girls. This brought some fond memories for Hanamichi. He just smiled and called Takamiya.

"Hey Takamiya…"

"What is it Hanamichi ? Can't you see I'm busy doing recon?" was the portly friend's only reply. He did not even turn his head.

"I wanted to let you know that I'm heading for practice and I'll see you tomorrow. Tell Youhei and the guys too." Without even waiting for a reply, Hanamichi headed out of the class.

**SHOHOKU HIGH BASKETBALL GYM: 4.15 pm**

As Hanamichi neared the basketball gym, he could already hear the familiar sound of basketballs being dribbled and the squeaks of sneakers against the wooden floor of the gym. He neared the double door of the gym but stopped right before entering. He took a deep breath. A voice with a zen like aura whispered in his mind,

"Relax…."

Hanamichi remembered his Coach's voice from the shooting practice and felt his body go slack.

"Relax….", The voice whispered again but this time the voice came from behind him. Hanamichi turned around to see where the voice had come from only to find his coach standing behind him with a small smile on his face.

Hanamichi jumped back in shock, not expecting to see anybody behind him.

"Yahhhhhh! Oyaji, Don't scare me like that again."

"Ho ho ho ho, Sakuragi-kun. You have finally returned, have you ?"

The laugh made the coach's belly bounce a little. Hanamichi immediately went into his **Tensai basketto-man** mode and started laughing.

"Nyahahahaha….. Of course Oyaji. Did you really think that a simple back injury can stop this tensai from playing his beloved sport ? I'm immortal Oyaji…. Immortal…. Nyahahahahah."

Anzai sensei's eyes widened for a split second before a genuine smile full of warmth and kindness broke out on his face. He gestured Hanamichi towards the door and merely smiled.

"So, Let's go Sakuragi-kun."

Hanamichi straightened up, headed straight for the door, and pulled it open in one motion. The sudden sound of the door being opened startled the members that were practicing inside. Ryota miyagi, the new captain had been running drills to brush up on the basics for everybody. He was pissed that somebody had interrupted their training session. It was a hard blow for the team to lose a center like Akagi and a mood maker like Kogure. So he had to work everyone really hard for the team to even match the shadow of the Shohoku team that beat Sannoh. He turned around to give a piece of his mind to whoever interrupted practice,

"Who the hell….."

All his words came to standstill after he caught sight of the familiar red hair in a monk style. He was shocked. Hanamichi Sakuragi, The **Rebounding monster** of Shohoku was standing in front of him smiling in glee. Next to Hanamichi, stood the coach with his ever present Zen aura.

Everybody in practice turned to see what the ruckus was about and everybody had the same dumbfounded face except for a certain super rookie who was not easily shocked. Mitsui, Ayako, Yasuda, Kakuta, Shiozaki and a couple of freshmen were gaping at the scene.

"Hanamichi… Is that you ?"

"Sakuragi-kun, Are you okay ? Can you play basketball again ?"

Hanamichi was bombarded by similar questions after everyone came to their senses. Mitsui and Ryota pulled him into a group hug and Ayako was at his side patting his head, congratulating him on his recovery.

After everyone had the time to welcome the redhead, Ryota asked the question that was on the minds of every player in the gym.

"Can you play basketball again Hanamichi ?"

Everyone held their breaths waiting for Hanamichi's answer. And just like at the time with Matsui and Fujii, his face broke into a childish grin. "Of course this tensai can play basketball again Ryo-chin. Basketball is my life, Nyahahaha….."

Everyone heaved a sigh of relief before Ryota told everyone to return to practice. Just as Ryota had given the instructions, Anzai-sensei called the regular starters towards him. Ryota, Mitsui, Rukawa and Hanamichi stepped towards the coach. Hanamichi looked at his rival and gave the tiniest of nods which was returned before the pair turned their attentions towards the coach.

He looked towards Hanamichi, "Sakuragi-kun, Has the doctor given his consent for you to continue playing basketball ?"

Hanamichi nodded vigorously, "I obeyed the doctor's every instruction. She was very nice to me. She told me that if I took it easy until I completed my therapy, I could play basketball sooner."

The coach nodded, "Now that we have Sakuragi-kun back on the team, we have regained an advantage under the basket. Though you have returned, We still have a huge void left by Akagi-kun. A void, which you have to fill Sakuragi-kun."

Hanamichi recalled Kazuhiko's words and nodded his head. "I'm a long way from Gori but this tensai will catch up and beat Gori."

These words surprised everyone in the gym. The self proclaimed Tensai had actually admitted to being inferior to someone. Even Anzai-sensei seemed surprised.

"Good to see you learn some humility, Hanamichi." Mitsui quipped.

"Dou-Ahou, who are you?" Rukawa deadpanned.

"Are you on drugs or something Hanamichi?" Ryota asked suspiciously.

Hanamichi exploded, "Shut up Micchi, The Tensai is the pinnacle of Humility. And you…" He pointed at Rukawa, "…. Teme kitsune, I'll beat you. Just you wait, As soon as I am on that court, I'll beat your sleepy ass into the floor."

He grabbed Ryota into a headlock and started rubbibg his knuckles on Ryota's head, "You idiot, Just because that Gori is gone and he made you captain doesn't give you the rights to make stupid accusations like that. The tensai would never let drugs taint this body."

All of a sudden, a paper fan whacked everyone on the head. It was Ayako and her **Paper fan of doom**. She stood there, hands folded and tapping her foot impatiently. She looked at Ryota, "I can't believe you Ryota. You're the captain and you're slacking off in front of the freshmen. Get your butt in gear and start practicing. And I want you to get ready as well Hanamichi Sakuragi."

"But Aya-chan….."

"Don't Aya-chan me and get back to practice. Maybe then, I'll let you choose the spot for our next date."

Ryota quickly stood up, dusted himself and ran back onto the court and started barking orders left and right. Hanamichi looked lost and the rest of team gave a small cough that sounded like *whipped*

Hanamichi smiled at the scene before him and headed straight to the locker room to change.

**A/N: Well this was chapter 2 of my story. Sorry for not putting any action in this chapter but I just wanted to ease Hanamichi into the team. Thank you for taking the time to read. Please review and tell me how you feel about this story. There won't be any Yaoi and I'll probably go with HanaxFujii because haruko is too dense to realize Hanamichi's feelings. I would love to hear your thoughts on my pairing choice as well. Till next time, See ya.**


	3. The Scrimmage

Well, I don't have anything interesting to say other than this….

Chapter 3 is here.

**Disclaimer: I do not own slam dunk or any of it's characters, I only own the few OC's I create to progress this story.**

Hanamichi was getting ready for practice in the locker room. He had already finished changing into his tank top and basketball shorts, now the only thing left was his shoes. He tugged on his pair of Red and Black Nike Air Jordan 1 and tightened the laces till he felt comfortable. Once he was ready, he headed out to the gym to begin his first day of practice after nearly 6 months of being away from basketball.

The gym was a already buzzing from activity. The freshmen were going hard at practice and the seniors were going at it even harder. It seemed that Hanamichi's return sparked a fire in every one of the senior players. Everybody on the court were doing drills and some were scrimmaging.

Hanamichi was welcomed with this sight. His appearance got the senior players attention and something shocked them. They were gaping at Hanamichi and this sudden disturbance caused Anzai-sensei and Ayako to turn their attention on him as well. What they saw left both the coach and the manageress speechless.

Hanamichi had bulked up. He was taller than when he had been injured and he had put on more muscle as well. He looked like a smaller version of Akagi with his build. Ayako walked up to him with a huge smile on her face and patted Hanamichi on the head with her paper fan. She talked to him like an Elder sister would.

"Well….. well, Look at you Hanamichi. When did you start working out?"

Hanamichi started scratching his head, "You see Ayako-san, The Obaa-san who overlooked my therapy told me that I shouldn't jump or do anything that would strain my back too much but she told me that if wanted to play better, I had to build more muscle. She said it was okay for me to work out my arms and legs. She even made me healthy meals, so that I could put on more weight."

Ayako was impressed. She was about to say something when Anzai-sensei spoke up.

"If you see Mariko-san again, convey my gratitude to her for looking after you." With that, the portly coach went back to his green tea while keeping a keen eye on the practice session.

Hanamichi nodded his head vigorously and turned to Ayako and continued, "She told me that her husband was a basketball player. So she had experience in the field. She helped me put on all this muscle and she even gave me tapes of NBA games to watch that belonged to her husband. Those NBA players are something. I saw this one tape, where a guy named Michael Jordan dunked from the free throw line. He copied the Genius' dunk from my Sannoh game."

Ayako just stood there taking all of it in. She was not sure what to say. Nevertheless, one thing was certain, that Hanamichi's return was the spark needed bring Shohoku back to its peak. Anzai sensei coughed to get the attention of Hanamichi and Ayako and instructed Ayako to oversee Hanamichi's basic training for a while.

Anzai sensei called the starters from where they were watching Hanamichi's conversation with Ayako and Anzai sensei. Anzai sensei gestured them to gather around him.

"Now that Sakuragi-kun is back, Let's have a practice game. Miyagi-kun…." He pointed towards the Diminutive point guard, "Rukawa-kun and yourself will be on the same team. Pick the rest of your team from your fellow class mates and the freshmen."

Ryota nodded understandingly.

"All right coach. Rukawa, let's get ready." He directed the last part towards Rukawa who stood silent the whole time. A nod was all Ryota got in response.

_He may have gotten the all japan training but his personality still sucks._

The two Starters walked over to the rest of the members and began picking their teams. Anzai sensei turned his attention to the only remaining player, Mitsui. Seeing that his favorite Coach focused on him, Mitsui straightened up.

"Mitsui-kun, You will team up with Hanamichi and three members of your choosing and you will play a match in a few minutes. Is this all right with you ?"

Mitsui took a glance at the energetic red head who was dribbling in a corner and nodded.

"We'll be ready sensei."

"Ho ho ho ho, Good. Get Hanamichi and prepare your team, and one more thing Mitsui-kun."

The Coach's eyes were a tad concerned, "I know how competitive you are but this match is just to get Sakuragi-kun into the flow of things. Play hard but don't strain yourselves too much."

Mitsui gave a mischevious smile in response, "I don't think that monkey knows what taking it easy even means."

"Ho ho, You may be right, Mitsui-kun. Sakuragi-kun is a fighter to the end."

Mitsui gave one final nod to his coach and headed to the corner where the red head was still dribbling.

Hanamichi saw Mitsui coming and greeted him, " Hey Micchi, What are you still doing here ? Wait, I know. You probably failed the university entrance exams, am I right ?"

Mitsui stopped in his track and he was trying hard to hold back from sending Hanamichi right back into therapy.

_We need this idiot, his rebounds are essential, now that Akagi is not around. Best not to go about murdering his sorry ass._

These were the disturbing thoughts going through Mitsui's head as Hanamichi was waving his hands infront of his face. Mitsui looked Hanamichi in the eye, the sudden action caused Hanamichi to jump back.

"I didn't fail in anything you moron, I just decided to stay back to play one more year of Basketball."

Hanamichi stopped whatever retort he had come up with. He had a serious look in his eyes, As he looked up to meet Mitsui's eyes, There was the same intensity reflecting back.

Hanamichi merely held out a fist,

"Let's conquer the nation, This time for the Gorilla."

Mitsui seemed surprised at the gesture but bumped his fist with Hanamichi's anyway. He merely nodded. He turned towards Ayako who had turned her attention to whacking the lazy freshmen on the team.

"I need to borrow Hanamichi for a game, Sorry about that."

Ayako waved off his statement with a smile, "No worries Sempai. He still needs to finish his basic training after the game though."

"Don't worry Ayako-san, This Tensai will have the energy to finish his basic training even after the game, Nyahahahahahaha."

Mitsui tapped Hanamichi's back to get his attention, "Let's go Hanamichi."

Hanamichi stretched his muscles which had already been warmed up during his basic training and headed into the crowd of players following Mitsui.

Hanamichi greeted all his old teammates. Kakuta, Yasuda, Ishii and the rest of the Shohoku high basketball team. Two people walked out of the freshmen group to introduce themselves to Hanamcihi.

One was about as tall as he was in his first year, He had a spiky black hair, piercing black eyes and an easy going smile that seemed to stir something in Hanamichi. He put a fist out,

"Sakuragi-sempai, it's nice to finally meet the Rebound king. My name is Kenji Akira, pleased to make your acquaintance."

Hanamichi stared at Kenji's face blankly.

_That smile, I've seen it somewhere. Wait a minute, Akira…. Sendoh Akira….?_

"You're related to that porcupine head?!" Hanamichi exploded.

Kenji smiled uneasily before nodding a confirmation. "I'm Sendoh's brother. Though I'm nowhere as good as him."

Hanamichi calmed down and bumped Kenji's fists and turned to the other player who had accompanied Kenji.

He was a little taller than Mitsui, his brown hair was just stubble. It looked like he kept his hair very short. He walked up to Hanamichi and put out his hands. He seemed to be a bit timid.

" it's nice to meet you, Sakuragi-san. I'm Tetsuya Mori. I play shooting guard."

The freshman had his head lowered and had even bowed down. Hanamichi just laughed and slapped the player's back.

"Nice to meet you too, Tetsu. It seems the Tensai's fame has already spread. Nyahahahaha."

"Dou-ahou."

"Shut up Teme-Kitsune" Hanamichi shouted, waving his fists wildly at Rukawa.

The starters watched the interactions with small smiles on their faces, While the freshmen were shocked at the proceeding. Ryota finally decided to break up the spat by kicking Hanamichi's rear.

"That's enough out of you Hanamichi. Get ready for the game."

"I know Ryo-chin. I'll beat that Smelly fox in the game." Hanamichi kept mumbling about beating Rukawa and headed onto the court.

Ryota pointed to Tetsuya, Kuwata and Yasuda. He informed them that they were on his team for the scrimmage. Mitsui turned to Kenji and motioned for him to join his team. Kenji gave a nod and walked towards the court to join Hanamichi. He also called Kakuta and another freshman, Shou Yamata.

After the teams had been decided, Ayako who was sitting at a table on the sidelines, looked at the stat sheets to compare the match ups.

**Team A:**

**C- Toki Kuwata, 188cm, 72 kg.**

**PF- Rukawa Kaede, 188cm, 75 kg.**

**SF- Yasuda Yasuharu, 175 cm, 63 kg.**

**SG- Tetsuya Mori, 184cm, 70 kg.**

**PG- Riyota Miyagi, 169cm, 61 kg.**

**Team B:**

**C- Sakuragi Hanamichi, 195cm, 85 kg.**

**PF- Akira Kenji, 188cm, 71 kg.**

**SF- Shou Yamata, 182cm, 69 kg.**

**SG- Hisashi Mitsui, 184cm, 70 kg.**

**PG- Kakuta Hoshi, 171cm, 60 kg.**

_There are a lot of tall players this year. May be we can do it this year, Conquer the nation._

Ayako thought as she went around making her final preparations before the match began. She watched on as a freshman playing the refree took the ball to the center court as the players assumed their positions.

Hanamichi and Kuwata got ready to jump ball. Hanamichi was all fired up to play. This got the rest of the players into fight mode as well. As soon as everyone got into position, The refree tossed the ball into the air.

As soon as the ball was tossed, Ayako started her watch to keep track of the time. She looked up just in time to witness Hanamichi's famed jumping prowess. He had not wasted a second before leaping after the ball. Kuwata was yet to leave his feet. He stared in amazement as the fiery red head reached for the ball and tipped it towards Kakuta.

Before anyone could react, Hanamichi was on the ground, already dashing to the basket at a furious pace. Kakuta cleared his head and immediately heaved a high pass to Hanamichi who grabbed it near the free throw line and was already in the air throwing down a thunderous windmill dunk to score the first basket for his team.

Everyone's jaws were on the floor at Hanamichi's display of athleticism. Ryota, Mitsui, Kenji, Tetsuya, Everyone on the court were looking on amazed as Hanamichi dropped from the rim.

He turned and pointed towards Ryota and Rukawa.

"That was the **Tensai Ambush**."

Ryota and Rukawa stared down Hanamichi, feeling their competitive spirit rising.

_You'll pay for that Hanamichi. I'll make sure of it, _Ryota thought.

_You've gotten better Dou-ahou, but you still won't beat me._

Hanamichi returned to his teammates, high fiving them along the way. Anzai sensei was actually standing on the sidelines at that moment.

_Ho Ho Ho, This will be a very interesting year indeed._

The Match had finally started and Hanamichi had already made a splash.

**A/N: Well, this was the third chapter of my fic. I know I focus on Hanamichi too much but every fic I've seen in the Slam dunk filter is always focused on Rukawa. Hanamichi will be the main focus of the story but the others will always play an important part. So as always Read and review :D**


	4. Rebound King

**A/N: Sorry for this late update. Exams, holidays and results got in the way. I passed all my courses last semester and well into my 4****th**** semester of college :P I'll try to be more frequent with my updates. So without any more delays, here's Chapter 4…..**

The last basket scored by Hanamichi really put everyone in the gym on notice. They had not seen that kind of dunk done by even the national level players. Anzai-Sensei watched in amazement as Hanamichi pointed towards Rukawa and Ryota before going back to defense.

_That boy really is something._

He then went back to his tea while keeping a keen eye on the game.

"Is he the guy who blocked Masashi Kuwata and Mikio Kuwata of Sannoh?"

"Was he really in physical therapy in the past few months?"

"The guy is insane…"

These were the types of conversations occurring in the gym. The legendary match against Sannoh tech put Shohoku on the map and the rest of the Basketball community on notice. The win brought immense popularity for the Basketball team.

So there were a lot of people present in the gym to watch the practice and now they were getting a spectacle.

Hanamichi was only focused on the game, so he hadn't heard all the words of awe directed towards him. He walked back to his team mates with a huge smile on his face. Kenji, Kakuta and Shou were dumbstruck.

"Did you see this tensai's brilliance ? That was the windmill dunk, I always wanted to try it after seeing it on a tape."

Mitsui was the only one to recover from the shock of seeing Hanamichi's monster athleticism. He walked over to Hanamichi who didn't even notice him. He was too busy explaining the dunk.

As soon as Mitsui walked up to Hanamichi, he slapped Hanamichi upside the head. Hanamichi jumped and shouted while trying to soothe his abused head.

"Hey what gives, Michhi?"

Mitsui glared hard at Hanamichi, "You Idiot. Why don't you just go for a normal lay-up or dunk? Why do you have to make it flashy?"

Now Hanamichi was pissed, "What? I don't hear you or anyone on the team complaining when that smelly fox makes all kinds of stupid plays and in the course of the game at that."

"When you reprimand that smelly fox for showing off, you can come lecture me. Right now, We have a game to win."

Everyone was shocked. Hanamichi never talked back like this to anyone. Sure he complained but he never actually retaliated with words. This was a first.

Mitsui was taken aback, In essence Hanamichi was right. No one questioned Rukawa for his reckless plays. They always let him do what he wanted, now Hanamichi had noticed that. Mitsui felt like a hypocrite.

But he was too proud to admit he was wrong. So he just went back to his position to defend. Ryota and Rukawa looked at each other and shrugged.

"Let's go win this one, Rukawa."

"Yeah, we can't let that dou-ahou get too full of himself."

Rukawa's reply came as a bit of surprise to the new captain. He smirked and realized something important. Hanamichi had that innate ability that wanted to make everyone challenge the read head.

"Guess you're right on that regard, can't let that idiot get too cocky."

Ryota handed the ball to Kuwata. Kuwata inbounded it back to Ryota and went ahead to get his position near the basket.

Ryota calmly dribbled the ball up the court allowing the offense to set up. He knew that Kakuta was not a scoring option right now as the 3rd year was struggling against the new centre of Shohoku. Hanamichi was intent on showing what he had learned in his time away.

He dribbled the ball slowly up to the top of the 3-point line. Kakuta was the one guarding him, so he wasn't worried. Mitsui was not guarding Tetsuya too close as he probably wanted to rotate off of him if Kenji wanted any help against Rukawa.

Ryota knew he had to use this. So he made one final survey of the court and sped up his dribble. Kakuta tensed up knowing that he had a hard defensive assignment in this scrimmage.

Ryota snuck a peek at Rukawa and when their eyes met, a small nod was all that was required. Ryota exploded towards the right of Kakuta, Kakuta reacted a second too late and Ryota had already blown past him.

Kakuta watched helplessly as Ryota headed straight for Kuwata and Hanamichi. Knowing Hanamichi's impulses, Ryota jumped in the air, close to the basket for a layup but realized too late that Hanamichi hadn't taken the bait.

A sudden shout alerted everyone of Rukawa's presence.

"Watch out, It's a fake."

It was Kenji, who had lost Rukawa after the All-japan player had shaken off the first year. Rukawa ran around Kuwata and Hanamichi and called for the ball.

Ryota dished a no look pass towards Rukawa who caught the ball and immediately lifted in the air for a jumper.

All of a sudden, a figure blocked his vision. Hanamichi had somehow rotated over to block him. Hanamichi took to the air.

His vertical leap exceeding even the prodigy's jump. Hanamichi glared at Rukawa.

"Did you really think you could get that shot off?"

Rukawa's shock dissolved immediately, masked by his indifferent façade.

"I didn't," was all that the ace had to offer. Before he turned and heaved the ball towards Tetsuya who was left open at the 3-point line by Mitsui.

Mitsui tried to recover and prevent the shot but he only managed to get a hand in the face of the freshman. Tetsuya let the shot fly from the right corner and held his hand in the swan neck pose as he watched the ball descend.

"It's a rebound!", Mitsui shouted.

And sure enough, The ball clanged off the back rim. Tetsuya was shocked that his shot missed. Everyone started fighting for position to get the rebound.

The people on the sidelines, the freshman, the Coach and Ayako knew what was coming next.

In the court, Rukawa was shocked to see that Hanamichi had somehow managed to box him and Kuwata out at the same time.

Hanamichi turned his head slightly and gave a small smirk, "Did you really think I would let anyone of you get a rebound over me?"

His eyes turned deadly serious, the fire in his eyes equivalent of their former captain.

"Let me give you a small reminder of why everyone calls me by that name….."

The moment the ball reached the apex of it's trajectory, Hanamichi's entire body tensed, the inhuman muscle strength of his leg getting ready, ready to show the world.

A split second later, he was off the ground. Out jumping everyone on the court, his huge hands stretching to grab the rebound.

Once he grabbed the ball, he palmed it with both his hands and landed with a huge force. The muscles absorbing the impact. They had shown the world why Hanamichi was called by that name.

"REBOUND KING!" was the resounding shout through the Shohoku high school gym.

And if one had taken a moment to look at Hanamichi, they would have seen one of the most genuine smiles gracing his features as he landed.

**A/N: And cut… Well hope you like this chapter. I dunno how many of you are sticking with this. But hope this appeases you for now. I'll try to update more soon. Take care and as always Read&review guys :D**


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